Safety-box for milk or the like



L. ANTONUK. SAFETY BOX FOR MILK OR THE LIKE. I

APPLICATION nuzn mizrzs. 1919.

1,338,659. Patented pr- 27,1920.

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SAFETY BOX FOR MILK QR THE LIKE. APPLICATION EILED JULY'25, 1919.

1,338,659. Patented Apr. 27, 1920.

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LAWRENTY ANTONUK, OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, ASSIGNOR OF FORTY-NINE PER CENT. TO STEVE MIKALKAVITGH, OF MIDDLETOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

SAFETY-BOX FOR MILK OR THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr, 27, 1920.

Application filed July 25, 1919. Serial No. 313,396.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LAWRENTY ANTONUK, residing at 1159 St. Catherine St, East, in the city of Montreal, in the Province of Quebec, in the Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Boxes for Milk or the Like; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The present invention relates to safety boxes for milk bottles and the like; and its main object is to provide a box which is so constructed as to be incapable of being opened from the outside by unauthorized.

persons after the milk or other article has been placed therein, and which, moreover, will shelter such article against rain, dust or possible injury.

The invention also resides in the provision of a box of the character above indicated which possesses the additional advantage of being sanitary, in that its contents will be protected both against flies and against wandering cats or dogs which so often feed on such articles of food as remain exposed at the steps or doors of houses; and it still further resides in the provision of an alarm bell or other signal which is operated automatically consequent upon the closing of the door after the articles have been deposited in the box, thus informing the con sumer of their delivery.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved box, the door being shown in open position;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section, showing the door closed;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the locking mechanism, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of the rotatable sleeve or bearing in the supporting plate in which the front end of the controller fits.

In the drawing, 1 represents a receptacle or box provided with a hinged front wall or door 2; and 3 is a support, here shown as a plate, which is rigidly secured in the open front portion of the receptacle in some suitable manner, and which is provided with an opening 4: to receive therethrough a detent 5, in the form of a hook, fixed to the inner face of door 2 adjacent its outer vertical edge. A second opening 6 is formed in plate 3 below and in line with the opening a; and through this opening 6 there is arranged to slide the end of a horizontal bar 7, which serves as a controller for the locking mechanism. and the rear portion of which projects through registering openings formed in the rear wall of the receptacle and in the door or wall 8 to which the receptacle itself is fastened.

The controller bar 7 preferably comprises two adjustable telescopically connected members which render it capable of con forming to the thickness of the door 8, a plurality of holes 9 being provided in said members for the interchangeable engagement therein of a coupling pin 10 which also serves as a stop for the spiral spring 11. The latter encircles bar 7 and bears at its front end against pin 10 and at its rear end against the adjacent wall of the receptacle; and withthe parts in normal position and the door 2 closed, said spring is under compression, so that it will tend to project said bar forwardly through the plate opening 6 when door 2 is opened.

The above-mentioned hook or detent 5 provided on door 2 is adapted to enter the upper plate opening 4 when the door is closed, and in so doing snaps over a lug or catch 13 formed on the upper end of a looking element 14: constituted by an inverted U-shaped slide. This slide 14 is arranged vertically against the inner face of the supporting plate 3, and has rigidly connected to its said upper end a rearwardly extending finger 17 formed with an opening through which loosely projects the up-bent rear end of a rod 16. The latter passes between the opposite legs of the slide 14 and is fastened at its front end to plate 3, its up-bent end carrying a coil spring 18 which exerts its pressure upwardly against the finger 17 so as to yieldingly maintain the slide in raised position. The controller bar 7 likewise passes through the space between the legs of the slide 14, but below the rod 16; and the opening 6 in which its front end is disposed is formed in a rotatable sleeve or bearing 66 in order to permit the bar to be turned about its axis by means of an upwardly-projecting handle 20 which is provided upon the rear portion of the bar exteriorly of the door 8, as indicated in Fig. 2. The bar itself is of rectangular cross-section, and is slidable through the said opening 6 which is similarly shaped.

The two legs of the slide 14 are formed at their lower ends with rearwardly-projecting, horizontal feet 15, on which rests the horizontal lower edge or base of a segmental cam or rocker 19 having a rectangular opening adjacent its said base, through which opening the front end of bar 7 slidably projects. The rear end of the bar is disposed immediately adjacent the operating element 21 of a bell or other signal 22 supported upona bracket 23 which is fixed to the inner side of the door 8.

In use, the door 2 is left open to enable the milk, bread or other articles to be deposited in the receptacle, after which said door is closed by the delivery man. The closing movement of the door pushes the controller bar 7 backward, thereby operating' the signal 22 and compressing spring 11 and at the same time causes the hook 5 to enter opening 4: in plate 3 and to engage and depress the slide 14 against the action of spring 18. The'c'atch 13- onsaid slide snaps under the hook when the door has been fully closed and thus serves tolock said door in such position, the door in turn keeping bar 7 retracted. To unlock the door, it is merely necessary for the consumer to turnor rock the bar in one direction or the other by means of its handle 20, such ma en-em causing thecam- 19 to turn with the bar and depress'slide 14: owing to its engagement with the feet 15 thereof, the catch 13 being thereby withdrawn from hookb, leaving the door free to be opened. The length of the up-be'nt end of rod 16 is su'ifici'ently great to permit itto remain at all times engaged in the opening in finger 17l As the door moves away from the receptacle, bar 7 advances automatically undef the influence of spring 11, its forward end projecting beyond plate 3 position to again struck by the door when the latter is closed. i

What I claim as my invention is:

' 1. Ina safety box of the character dcscrib'ed, the combinationof a receptacle havmg a receiving aperture; sumfor closing said aperture and provided with a detent a support nionntcd in said aperture; a controller' mommy mounted in said support; a locking element yieldingly carried by said support and engageable automatically with ana detent when the door is fully closed, to hold said doorfagai-nst opening; and means mounted on said controller for operation upon said locking element to move the same relatively to the controller and thereby disengage it from said detent.

2. In a safety of the character dc-' scribed, the combination of a receptacle having a receiving aperture; a door for closing said aperture and provided with a detent; a support mounted in said aperture; a controller movably mounted in said support and normally projecting outwardly beyond the same into position to be struck and pushed backward by the door when the latter is closed; a locking element carried by said support and engageable automatically with said detent when the door is fully closed, to hold said door against opening; asignal operated automatically by said controller consequent upon its backward movement; and means operated by'said controller for thereafter disengaging said locking element from said detent.

In a safety of the character described, the combination of a receptacle ing a receiving aperture; door for closing said aperture and provided with a detent; a support mounted in said aperture; controller rotatably mounted in said support; a locking element carried by said support and engage-able automatically with said detentwhen the door is fully closed, tohold said door against opening and means carried by said controller for operation upon said locking element to move the same relatively to the controller and thereby disengage it from said detent when the controller is rotated.

41. In a safety box of the character described, the combination of a receptacle having a receiving aperture; a door for closing said aperture and provided with a detent a support mounted in said aperture; a controller rotatably mounted in said support; a locking element carried by said support and cngageable automatically with said detent when the door is fully closed, to holdsaid door against opening; and a cam mounted on said controller and engageable with the locking element when the controller is retated to release said locking element from said detent.

5. In safety box of the character described, the combination of a receptacle having a receiving aperture; a door for closing said aperture and provided with a detent a support mounted in said aperture; a controller mounted in said support for both endwise and rotary movement and normally projecting outwardly beyond the same into position to be struck and pushed backward by the door when the latter is closed; a locking element carried by said" scribed, the combination of a receptacle having a receiving aperture; a door for closing said aperture and provided with a detent; a support mounted in said aperture and having upper and lower openings, through the former of which said detent is adapted to project when the door is fully closed; a controller bar mounted in the lower opening in said support; a spring controlled locking slide carried by said support for automatic engagement with said detent; and means operatively connected with said controller for disengaging said slide from said detent.

7. In a safety box of the character described the combination of a receptacle having a receiving aperture; a door for closing said aperture and provided with a detent; a support mounted in said aperture and having upper and lower openings, through the former of which said detent is adapted to project when the door is fully closed; a controller bar rotatably mounted in the lower opening in said support; a springcontrolled locking slide carried by said support for automatic engagement with said detent; and means operated by said con project when the door is fully closed; a con- 7 troller bar mounted in the lower opening in said support and normally projecting outwardly through the same into position to be struck and pushed backward endwise by the door when the latter is closed; a spring-controlled loeking slide carried by the support for automatic engagement with said detent; a signal operated automatically by said controller consequent upon itsbackward movement; and means operable by said controller for releasing said slide from said detent.

Signed at Montreal, Quebec, Canada, this second day of July, 1919. V

LAWRENTY ANTONUK. WVitnesses:

C. PATENAUDE, A. FoRJUE'r. 

